"Linux Gazette...making Linux just a little more fun!"

Dynamic IP Web Solution Using Geocities Web Account

Since I published an article "Setting Up a Dynamic IP Web Server"
in Linux Gazette issue #10, I have lost all the free school web accounts.
Because I need a permenent web page to bridge the linux dynamic web server
at home, I have been lucky to found out that Geocities free web account
can be used with a little bit hack. Geocities free web account with 2MB
space and free email can be obtained at http://www.geocities.com
.

Geocities web page can be updated by ftp method. However, geocities
ftp procedure requires that *.html files are ftped with asii mode and *.jpg,
*.tgz files are ftped by binary mode. I found out that if I use the wrong
mode, web pages can not be updated. It took about 10 minutes in my test
to update ( or overwrite) the web page after the updated file was ftped,
so that you have to be patient to wait for your result with Geocities account.

---------------------------------------------

The following is the ftp part of scripts in file web_up, web_down:

web_up:

if echo -e "ascii\ncd /pub/homestead\nput up.html dynamic.html"
\

| /usr/bin/ftp -v geocities

web_down:

if echo -e "ascii\ncd /pub/homestead\nput down.html dynamic.html"
\

| /usr/bin/ftp -v geocities

Source files like ppp-up and ppp-down are also updated to reflect the
change.

The following sentence can be added to file /etc/ppp/ppp-up in order
to use email to tell us current IP address of your linux box:

mail -s "$4" fasta@geocities.com < /etc/add

-------------------------------------------------

In conclusion, although it is not as convenient as the typical unix
shell account to update the web page by using free Geocities web account,
it serves us well for bridge to our dynamic web server at home with zero
cost. For detailed information, please read my original article in issue
#10, and check out my new web page for updated source code.